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I woke up.

I'm not sure how long I'd been asleep, or what I was dreaming about. All I know is that it hurt to move. It hurt to think, too, but nothing will stop me from that. With that piece of resolve, I summoned more, and used them to push myself off the bed. Why was I having difficulty standing up? At least my breathing was regular. I must have been in a coma or something. Who's voice was that?

"Thank goodness you're finally awake." It was my mom. She was in the room with me. Did she know what's going on? She was trying to push me back to bed.

"I'm fine," I tell her. "Where am I?"

I didn't notice how hard it was to see until I asked that question, but just as I thought that, my vision cleared. I was in my room in Castelia. Mom confirmed this, and that I'd been sleeping for a very long time.. No wonder I felt so weak. Then she began adding details.

"You were found in some cave on Route 3, by yourself. You'd looked as though you had been in a fight. You didn't have any pokemon on you, either..."

That struck a nerve. All the friends I had made since deciding to be a Pokemon Trainer were gone off to who knows where. But I cast the thought away. There isn't much I could do, as weak as I was. "Keiko was travelling with me at the time. What happened to her?"

Silence. She didn't answer. I assumed the worst. More strength welled up, and I looked up to see the burnt, smeared piece of paper that was her birth certificate. Then I see the writing on it. Keiko's DNA is far too different on a fundamnetal level to the rest of the Toumei family for her to be a member of it biologically. So, she wasn't my sister, after all. But I cast that thought, aside, too. If I was knocked into a coma and had all of my Pokemon stolen, something worse must have happened to her.

"I need a moment alone. Is that alright?"

Mom took the bait and closed the door, leaving me to my own devices. My body ached, but more sleep wouldn't help me. Suddenly, I could feel how hungry I was, but I tried to ignore it as I got dressed and started packing. I needed a lot of things then, but the only thing I was worried about getting was answers.

"I've got stuff to do."

I was almost at the elevator when Mom caught me, but that phrase bought me enough time to start heading down. As I rode the elevator down, my mind started racing. I couldn't go to Route 3 without Pokemon, so I needed to go somewhere that I could get some. It was crazy, but the only solution my mind wanted to come to was returning to Mt. Silver and performing a mission for Team Snagem. Johto was a bit more navigatable by non-trainers than Unova was, so I decided to buy a ticket to sail to Vermilion City in Kanto, at which point I would buy a ticket to right the Magnet Train to Goldenrod. I would make my way to Mt. Silver from there.



~*~

As soon as I saw JT, I recognized him as the person that got me out of the tower of Lavender Town back in my academy days. We had only ever communicated electronically after that, but here he was in the flesh. JT was Limitbreaker.

The man was all business, just as I remembered. "I don't know any other Pokemon Trainers, so I tapped the two of you. And before you say anything, Toumei, yes. I know you just got out of a yearlong coma and I know you lost all of your pokemon before that. Cooperating with what I'm about to ask you will be benificial to your return to Team Snagem. And yes, Sub knows you're on your way, even though I had to go through GRAY to send the message along. That's one artificial intelligence I'd rather not interact with again."

"Tell me about it," I quipped. JT wasn't giving me many openings to respond, but I was sure to answer that. I remembered GRAY's attitude well.

"A group of people are terrorizing trainers that pass through uptown Goldenrod. There isn't much intel surrounding them, but I know they're using Cipher-made Snag Balls, though I don't know if they're being supplied by the team or if they've acquired the balls by their own means. Ideally, you'll be able to get one for yourself and steal you a pokemon for your team, though I'd suggest not taking a ball that has a pokemon inside of it. I know for a fact that they don't use the pokemon they steal in battles. They're likely intending to sell them. Anyway, I'll lend you my Abra, so you'll be able to weaken whatever pokemon you end up taking. Chaos, you'll have to get one of your pokemon out of the Day Care, as none of my other pokemon are battle-capable."

"Yeah, I know who I'm bringing for this," Chaos retorted.

JT put a pokeball in my hand, and instantly, I felt the hairs at the back of my head rise up. "Looks like you still have a bit of Celestial Chi in your head. I would have figured it would have faded entirely from the coma. Sorry, but it looks like you'll have to get used to it."

"How will it know to obey my commands?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I've formed a bond with it. I already commanded it to obey you telepathically. He's mischievous, though, so be careful around him outside of battle."

"I'll just keep him in his ball for the most part," I told JT.

"That won't stop him," he warned.

I thanked JT, then followed Chaos out into the streets. "We need to head to Route 34 so I can get Warbringer out, then we'll get to work."

Memories of a gentle Blaziken with a feminine voice - that spoke English - came to mind, but I chose not to speak on them. I'd see for myself later.

~*~

It wasn't long before we found a group of trainers hanging out near an abandoned building. "Look, I'll distract them. You two get in there, get what you can get, and bail."

"Are you sure? There's so many of them," Keiko whispered.

"I ain't askin'. Now, make sure you don't see anybody inside before you move, and for ~/~'s sake, don't go through the main door. That's just asking to get spotted. Now, sit tight for a bit."

Chaos proceeded to vulgarly taunt the trainers before releasing Warbringer. The response was staggering, as Warbringer ended up having to fight nine pokemon by herself, but it seemed as though she was handling herself surprisingly well, although I'm sure the fact that she was facing unevolved pokemon helped. When I didn't see anyone else exiting the building, Keiko and I ran along the wall next to the side of the building as quietly as we could so as not to be detected. It helped that the sun was setting at the time. When we got to the edge of the building, I noticed that it was made of metal sheets, and I saw some loose ones on the side. It took some doing, but we managed to squeeze in.

Once inside, Keiko revealed a flashlight from her purse that allowed us to see where we were going in the dark building. It was pretty clear that the building used natural light to illumiate its surprisingly many rooms. Though a few of the rooms we went through were empty, we eventually came to a desk with two pokeballs atop it. Thankfully, they were empty, but upon inspecting them, I saw that the insides had been altered. I'd never looked into a pokeball that had been altered by Snagem technology, but somehow I knew we had just found two Snag Balls.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that the old guy was just a distraction," a voice called from the darkness. Quick use of Keiko's flashlight revealed two trainers that looked similar to the ones outside. I spat a curse in the heat of the moment and summoned Limitbreaker's Abra, which soon sat beside Chaos's Houndoom, Deathbringer.

"Nice 'mons," the other trainer grinned. "We'll be taking those."

"We'll see about that," I growled.

"flAAAshH"

My head hurt suddenly, and I covered my eyes. Fortunately, this protected me from Abra's Flash move, which allowed me to see the room better once my head stopped hurting. The trainers had released a Ralts and a Natu - both the same type as Limitbreaker's Abra. Unfortunately, Keiko was just as blinded as the enemies, but somehow, she recovered more quickly. "Faint Attack that Ralts!"

Deathbringer surprisingly obeyed, disappearing from sight only to strike invisibly at the Ralts before reappearing where he was. Even more surprisingly, Ralts seemed hardly affected by what should have been super effective. "The hell?"

"Looks like someone's never been to Kalos," the Ralts trainer sniggered.

"The ~/~'s a Kalos?" I blurted. Guess I'd been spending too much time around Chaos. Then my trainer instinct kicked in. A psychic type that isn't weak to Dark? Me wanty!

Abra was more interested in the Natu, however, and fired of a current of electricity (Charge Beam) at it. The psychic bird cried out in pain, but was amazingly able to continue fighting. "Use Miracle Eye, Natu!" the bird's trainer cried out, causing it to expel Celestial Chi in the shape of an eye. I'm not sure what that did, but it made Deathbringer nervous.

"Use Disarming Voice!" The other trainer shouted, causing Ralts to cry out. Its voice was somehow hauntingly beautiful, and it seemed to affect Deathbringer, too. They were teaming up on one Pokemon. I wasn't very experienced in Double Battles, but it seemed like a good strategy.

Keiko had other plans, though. "Must be half-Fairy, then. Deathbringer, Sludge Bomb!"

Half-what? Seriously, the ~/~'s a Kalos?

Anyway, Deathbringer spat a rather large glob of... something out at the Ralts, which squealed when the sludge made contact, and... exploded. Ew. Still, the little bugger was still standing. My ball-throwing hand was starting to itch. An image of JT smirking at Abra and petting him appeared in my head as Abra threw its body at the Natu. I didn't know how I knew, but I could tell it was using Return.

"Alright, enough playing around. Natu, use Ominous Wind!" The Natu trainer roared, to my dismay. I knew that move, and dreaded it. Soon, a wave of Celestial Chi was crashing against the four of us, adding to my headache. Though Deathbringer seemed a little more weakened by it, Keiko and Abra were surprisingly unaffected.

"Magic Guard-having son of a..." the Natu trainer grumbled.

"Go for a Disarming Voice on the Abra!" the Ralts trainer ordered. However, the Ralts disobeyed, and... looked like it was meditating.

"Now's my chance," Keiko said, throwing the malufactured pokeball at the Natu. Taking her cue, I threw mine at the Ralts. Keiko was successful in stealing the Natu, but my ball burst shortly before it would have sealed shut. I was upset at this at first, but I found myself surprisingly content. I reminded myself that, even though I had lost all the pokemon I trained before, I left home to make sure Keiko was safe, and she was standing right beside me. I felt an odd sense of what I could almost describe happiness when I saw the Pokeball floating in the middle of the room. Did Abra do that? No, it was-

"Hurry up and do something you stupid piece of crap!" the Ralts trainer yelled impatiently at his pokemon. Ralts looked up at the pair of trainers and spoke again, though its voice was nowhere near as hauntingly beautiful this time around. The two trainers looked at it for a second, then fell on their backs. I went to check their pulses, and - sure enough - they were both still alive. What had Ralts done to knock them out like that?

"Rala," I heard. Looking down, I saw the Ralts hold up a Pokeball. I started to speak to it as I leaned down, but as soon as my hand touched the ball, I saw a very tall person walk away. Once I realized I was seeing one of Ralts's memories, things started to make sense. I went through that epiphany after my only Snag Ball broke because Ralts was looking through my emotions. It must have liked what it saw in order for it to attack its own trainers and give me its own Pokeball.

I whispered a thank you to the Ralts and recalled it and Abra just as Chaos walked on the scene. "Good work. You two got what you need?"

I showed Chaos Ralts's pokeball at the same time Keiko showed him Natu's pokeball, eliciting a smirk from him. "Good. Then, let's get out of here before more of those ~/~ show up. Ragebearer's on his last legs."

"Ragebearer?" I asked, unaware that he'd brought his Charmeleon as well.

"You didn't think I'd let War face an army by herself, did you? Now hurry the ~/~ up!"

~*~

[Welcome back! You passed of course, duh. However looks like Terashi headed towards the wrong hideout (They went back to Mt. Silver for their main hideout but kept the Kalos base operational, even with someone to keep it running) so I thought it would be fun to continue to roleplay this out to point him in the right direction.]

Lumiose City, the capital and center of all things in the Kalos region, where the Prism Tower stood proudly above all else in the middle of the city. Lumiose was a massive city compared to all others in the world, but it was relatively easy to traverse as it was just one big circular spiderweb that spread out from Prism Tower, so it one got lost all they had to do was find their way to the behemoth of a structure and go from there.

Terashi would learn that Snagem's HQ in Kalos is disguised as a cafe, and as luck would have it Lumiose City was famous for having dozens of cafes, more than you can shake a stick at. Looks like the man was going to have his work cut out for him. On the other hand he did have one clue, this particular cafe was famous for its 'Attraper Special'. What a weird name when you translated it from Kalonisian. At least it was a clue.